"A close friend recently lamented in conversation that the Republicans have “stolen God”. Maybe, I said, but at least we still have Jesus.

"While many on the righteously religious right say they’ve “found” him, the story of the Jesus they’ve found is the one they’ve written themselves – the one in which a vengeful Jesus wields his cross as a sword and a shield. That’s not the Jesus I know, nor the one known by many Americans, irrespective of their political affiliations.

"I personally know at least a dozen Republicans who voted against their party in last November’s elections in part because they recognize this..."